Seeking Assistance with Smartsheet for Task Management

Connor at DFES

Hi all,

I’m very new to Smartsheet and am keen to explore its features with the goal of eventually rolling it out in my work area. I have an enterprise license assigned through the Government.

In our area—Media and Corporate Communications—we receive many tasks through Microsoft Outlook. These often include requests for speech notes, talking points, briefing notes, event documents and similar tasks. These requests come down through Ministerial Services, progress to Corporate Services (which our area reports to), and finally reach us. Theoretically, this process involves two separate Outlook tasks before reaching us. Additionally, lateral tasks are sent out to other areas to request briefing notes (or simply information) so that we can write the necessary content. While the tasking mechanism itself (BN specific) is out of scope, one of the things I want to improve is the tracking of briefing notes.

Here’s some context around briefing notes (BNs): In many instances, BNs are tasked to other commands to draft and get approved. Once drafted, they are sent up the chain, approved and then provided to Ministerial Services. For us to write speech notes, these BNs then come down again through email to Corporate Services and finally to us. The challenge with BNs and event-related tasks is that they are heavily dictated by the Minister's Office, meaning that information frequently changes—dates, attendees and so on. I find it almost impossible to keep up with the numerous tasks and BNs that flow through my email daily.

Hence, I’m seeking assistance with the following:

1. I require a tasking system that can either, at the Corporate Services level, assign tasks (through a form or direct entry into a sheet).
2. I need the ability to attach BNs and provide commentary on each task, which should be possible at the Corporate Services level.
3. I need the ability to send documents, once completed, for approval and attach them to the relevant tasks, either through forms or direct entry into a sheet.
4. I need to be able to attach email commentary to each task as a record.
5. I require the ability to assign relevant tags to tasks (e.g., "for the Minister," "for the CEO").
6. I need to track and display data, such as the time taken from task assignment to draft completion and submission for approval.

I’ve reviewed some of the templates available in Smartsheet, and I can see there are task tracking templates. Are these the best option, or should I create my own?

alyssad

Hey Connor,
Personally what helped me when I first started on smartsheet was utilising the templates and editing them to work for what I needed. It takes away some of the risk as a lot of the formulas are already done for you. I also found that once I got comfortable with the templates and determined what I needed to do I could create my own task trackers that worked best for my organisation. Every users experience is different but I would say start with a template and see how you feel, that way if the template gets messed up you don't have to start from scratch!

NicoLHC

@Connor at DFES is everything resolved?